The scientific community has voiced concerns about the lack of pedagogical training provided to graduate students, who, in general, have traditionally walked into undergraduate laboratory courses with no prior teaching experience. Many institutions have taken action to develop teaching assistant (TA) training programs for incoming graduate students, which they must attend before taking charge of their teaching duties. But is this the right time to start TA training? Is the preparation and experience as a TA sufficient to prepare a future professor? Based on studies indicating that early involvement in a community of practice results in early identification as a practitioner and deeper engagement with the practice, we decided to test whether starting informal but targeted pedagogical training at the undergraduate level, simultaneously with engagement in undergraduate research, would have positive results. We developed a program whereby students conducted research in their mentors’ laboratories during one full academic year and designed lecture or laboratory modules based on their research topic and research results. The undergraduate fellows presented their modules in courses/labs taught by their mentors. Their teaching effectiveness and the module content were evaluated by students attending the courses. Our approach and outcomes based on specific program objectives will be presented along with an unexpected result and a prime opportunity: renewed enthusiasm of faculty mentors to develop new curriculum. When asked if they were interested in developing a general chemistry laboratory course that integrated their own research while fulfilling the learning objectives of the course, they agreed, proposed content for the course and proceeded to develop it. One pilot course in chemistry was implemented for the first time at our university in Spring 2015 and Fall 2016. Preliminary results of course implementation will also be presented.

Integrating undergraduate research with teaching and learning: Expanding opportunities and broadening participation

251st National Meeting (2016)

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